■ OBITUARIES

Rutherford Electric Membership Co-op for 41 years until retirement. He was a faithful member of First Baptist Church until his health kept him from attending.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 63 years, Doris Dotson Waters.

Bill Waters

CHERRYVILLE – Mr. Billy Donald Waters, 89, passed away peacefully on Friday, March 17, 2023 at his residence.

Bill was born on April 18, 1933 in Rutherford Co., N.C., son of the late CJ Waters and Myra Greene Waters. Bill worked with

He is survived by his daughter, Teresa Waters Hopper and fiancé, Fred Rudder, of Kings Mountain, N.C.; grandson, Trent Hopper and wife, Kristen, of Chapel Hill; and great-grandchildren, Sophie, Eli, and Lila Hopper.

The family would like to express a special thank you to Giny Wells who has taken wonderful care of Bill for the last three years.

Visitation was from 12:45 to 1:45 p.m., on Monday, March 20, 2023 at First

■ POLICE

ARRESTS

Baptist Church in Cherryville.

Funeral services were held at 2 p.m., on Monday, March 20, 2023 at First Baptist Church with the Rev. Dr. Vince Hefner officiating.

Burial followed the service in City Memorial Cemetery in Cherryville.

Memorials may be made to First Baptist Church, 301 E. First St., Cherryville, NC, 28021, or to Hospice of Cleveland County, 951 Wendover Heights Dr., Shelby, NC, 28021.

A guest register is available at www.stameycherryvillefuneralhome.com.

Stamey – Cherryville Funeral Home & Cremation Service served the Waters family.

3-12: Lisa Joyce Lane, 44, 1520 Stony Point Rd., Shelby; WSOJ/Gaston County. Taken into custody. No bond type/amt. listed.

3-13: Crystal Ballew Alshamasat, 44, 414 W. Ballard St., Cherryville, was arrested by Gastonia PD officers at 254 N. New Hope Rd., Gastonia, for one count of larceny-shoplifting.

3-14: Colt Dean Mathis, 31, 317 E. Sixth St., Cherryville, was arrested by GCPD officers at Robert Rd., and Tot Dellinger Rd., Cherryville, on one count of a parole/probation violation.

3-17: Michael Brandon Rawlins, 45, 1062 St. Mark’s Church Rd., Cherryville, was arrested at 425 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Gastonia, by GCSO deputies on one count of a warrant from another agency.

INCIDENTS

3-8: On March 7, a Cherryville woman reported larceny at the Cherryville Laundromat by an unknown suspect who took a quilt from a dryer. Est. cost of quilt: $80. Case is active and under further investigation.

3-8: on March 7, a Newton man and a Cherryville business reported destruction or damage/ vandalism to property by

City

From Page 1

Mayor Beam also spoke about the new welcome mural being painted on the side of a building next to the new YMCA.

“This mural is being financed by Mr. Patrick O’Leary,” he added. The mayor also noted that some 90 patches are being made in Cherryville streets by Piedmont Paving. Both state and local roads are in this mix, he said. The mayor also mentioned that the city is looking to create a walking and nature trail and he noted the ribbon cutting at Scooter’s Coffee he attended. He and the council and other officials were also be at the Friday, March 17, Shamrock Sports ribbon cutting.

“I also attended the Cherryville Elementary Fairy Tale Ball, and read a proclamation to them. I want to commend Principal Patrick Watson and his staff for a job well done there.”

After talking briefly about the Grand Reopening of Main Street, Mayor Beam asked two of former Cherryville Mayor Bob Austell’s children – daughters, Teesie Smith and Elizabeth Shuford – to come forward and receive the senatorial statement submitted by Sen. W. Ted Alexander, honoring their late father and his many accomplishments and dedicated service for his community, Cherryville and for his beloved state, North Carolina. Teesie spoke and thanked Sen. Alexander as well as the council for remembering their late father, noting how much he and their mother loved Cherryville and their community.

Council then decided to move the swearing in of the city’s new police chief, Brandon Hunsucker, to the Monday, April 10 meeting.

They then heard from Gaston County YMCA CEO Sharon Padgett about the “One Gaston 2040” presentation.

Said Mrs. Padgett, “We have been working on this project for about two years now, and I wanted to come by and speak with you about our public and private initiatives.”

She then went through the eight pages of information in the agenda as well as handed out a booklet about “One Gaston 2040” for council members to look over.

Padgett noted the group is still “in the process of forming teams” to go on a traveling tour of the county and its towns and townships.

Council recognized six employees for their respective years of service; Seth Barker and David Thomas (5 years); CPD law enforcement officer Josh Colvard and Kent Ballard (10 years); CPD’s Wes Bennett (20 years); and Cherryville Fire Chief Jason Wofford (25 years).

Council then went into a public hearing about the Piedmont Lithium property relinquishment from ETJ.

Planning and Zoning Director Alex Blackburn told council the city has met all the general statute requirements for this, as per information from previous meetings and discussions with council. Council then opened the floor up to questions from many individuals who signed up to be heard with many property and homeowners as well as business and church leaders all weighing in that they are very concerned the city is relinquishing their ETJ rights to an out-of-country entity that may not have the city or county’s best interests at heart. Issues such as dust, sediment, chemical runoff and water pollu- tion, noise, being too close to a daycare, and such being just a few concerns voiced by those who came up to speak. Environmental concerns such as loss of groundwater depletion and hazardous by-products leaching into the soil made many urge council to reconsider their move to give up their jurisdiction in this matter.

Brian Skiba, P&Z Director for Gaston County was asked by Councilman Parker what the county would get out of the proposed relinquishment.

Mr. Skiba answered that as far as the rezoning process goes, the county hasn’t “… negotiated anything yet.” He went to say there was a “… moratorium on zoning and land use. At this point, there no decision has been made.”

Skiba told Council member Freeman, in answer to Mr. Freeman’s question of what would be the benefit to PL of the relinquishment of the ETJ, that if Cherryville relinquishes, that move would “… streamline the process” for the county to move forward with PL’s request.

“If Cherryville notifies the county, then it’s (the process) is out of Cherryville’s hands,” he said.

Many more comments along this line were offered to council and a representative from Piedmont Lithium, Ms. J. Monique Parker, who is Senior Vice President for safety, Environment & Health, also answered some of the questions, also noting an unnamed/unlisted subject who damaged door. Est. cost of damage: $450 (door frame). Case is active and under further investigation.

3-8: Bessemer City man reports call for service as he had lost his wallet at Walmart. Case closed by exception as prosecution was declined.

3-9: Cherryville woman reports call for service by officers who assisted her in recovering a vehicle from listed suspect. Officers listed as helping by “…assisting in a civil issue.” Case status: inactive.

3-12: CPD officer reports listed subject had an outstanding OFA/WSOJ from another jurisdiction. Closed/cleared by other means.

3-14: GCPD officers report exceptionally closing/clearing a weapons law violation at 103 S. Chavis Dr., Cherryville.

3-15: GCPD officers report exceptionally closing/clearing a drug equipment violation and a misdemeanor drug/ narcotic violation at 313 Ridge Ave., Cherryville.

3-17: GCPD officers report a new investigation into a larceny of auto parts and accessories at 214 St. Mark’s Church Rd., Cherryville.

WRECKS

3-9: A vehicle driven by Krystal Mae Lavender, 38, 214 Oliver St., ended. that PL has to meet some very stringent restrictions when it comes to any mining operation they are currently involved with. They also have to do water studies and other related studies before undertaking any operation, adding they will treat the water they take out before putting it back into any aquafer.

Mayor Beam noted, at the end of the public hearing, that all that was asked and said “…was a lot to digest. My opinion is that we’re premature on deciding anything tonight.”

A public hearing date was set for April 10 to hear about proposed murals and sidewalk painting ordinances from City marketing coordinator Steve Panton.

Citizens who wished to be heard brought forth more comments about the disposition of the Cherryville Historical Museum echoing previous unhappiness about the bids on the building currently housing the exhibits and such, and what will happen to said material if/when the building is sold to whoever’s bid is accepted by the city.

Mike “Boozie” Dellinger voiced his concern that no contingencies for any unforeseen events have been addressed by the council as regards any untimely things happening. Perhaps Mr. Dellinger’s biggest question to the council was the simple one of, “Why this building? Why not all of the others in town that are there and waiting to be used?”

The general consensus of opinion was that the building is old and in need of more repair was a predominant theme in almost all of the comments to council regarding the disposition of the building.

There were times the conversation and the comments got a little heated but Mayor Beam and City Manager Dalton steered things back onto a more centralized theme, that being that the City of Cherryville is there to help the Cherryville Museum and its Board, but felt it only fair they have a voice on that Board. No answer was given to them on that aspect however, and that’s where things years.

Cherryville, told responding officer her glasses fell and she applied the wrong pedal and pressed the gas instead of the brake, colliding with a vehicle driven by Barbara Dial Miller, 77, 209 Marcus Dr., Cherryville, who was traveling on Marcus Drive. Ms. Lavender said she was at fault. No injuries reported. Est. damages to the Lavender vehicle: $1,000; to the Miller vehicle: $2,500.

3-11: A vehicle driven by Lynette Marie Kightlinger, 31, 63643 Topaz Ln., Iron Station, was traveling east on Church St., and failed to reduce speed and collided with a vehicle driven by Zulma Michelle Molinary-Ball, 43, 530 Delview Dr., Cherryville, who was also traveling east on Church Street. Mrs. Kightlinger was cited for DWLR and w/o decreasing speed as necessary to avoid a collision, and colliding w/a vehicle. The injured from both vehicles treated by GEMS and CFD and taken to Atrium Health-Cleveland County, Shelby. Est. damages to the Kightlinger vehicle: $2,000; to the Molinary-Ball vehicle: $4,500.

It was noted though that Mr. O’Leary, who tendered an upset bid for the museum building originally, has spent $4 million of his own funds on this city, given $117,000 to the museum itself over the

Tedder

From Page 1 accomplishments. I am proud of him for getting to this point.”

Said dad, Daniel, “This is another stepping stone in the move toward his getting to play professionally. At the college level he will polish his skills and continue to grow.”

Daniel said he plays golf “recreationally” while mom, Donna said she proudly calls herself, “a golf mom.”

The college is a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA), and primarily competes. according to their web site, “…as an independent in the South Region of the

Under “Other Business”, council reset their budget discussions from Saturday, April 29 to Saturday, May 6, at 8 a.m., at the Cherryville Fire Department’s training room.

Division II level.”

Montreat, located in the mountains of western North Carolina, has a street address of 310 Gaither Cir., Montreat. It is a private, Christian college and was founded in 1916. Again, according to the school’s web site, they offer “… associate, bachelor’s, and master’s degree programs for traditional and adult students.”

Cherryville High School has a long and proud history of student/ athletes going away to play their respective sports at the college level, winning fame and a name for their old alma mater, noted Coach Harrill – himself a CHS graduate – who came back after college and now teaches and coaches at CHS.ww

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